Blue Christmas – a service of remembrance and hope that honours people who have lost loved ones in that year and those who feel sad and alone at Christmas will be presented at the Senior Citizens Centre on the evening of Friday, 22 December 2017 at 7pm.
For many of us, Christmas is twinkly lights, stuffed stockings, excited children, gingerbread houses. It’s a time for gathering with loved ones, sending out Christmas cards full of family news and unwrapping thoughtful gifts that have been lying in wait under trees bought during happy family outings. Happy, merry, jolly.
But gosh, this can be a challenging time of year. For every two-carat marriage proposal and harmonious Christmas dinner depicted with each click of the remote, there are all kinds of real-life people dealing with real-life problems, which can feel much more acute over the holidays.
Maybe this is your first Christmas after the death of a loved one. Maybe you’re going through a divorce. Maybe you’ve just lost your job. Maybe you’ve been diagnosed with cancer. Or, heaven forbid, your child has. Maybe you have depression or anxiety. Maybe you had a miscarriage or are trying, desperately, to conceive a child. Maybe there’s alcoholism in your family and you’re worried about another Christmas Day blow-up. Or maybe you’re sober and can’t face one more boozy holiday party. Perhaps treacherous family dynamics have left you out in the cold this year, disinvited to Christmas dinner. Maybe a loved one is in trouble with the law or has a mental illness or has lost their way and is suffering. And so you are too.
Blue Christmas reaches out to anyone who might be vulnerable this holiday season. Or in January. And beyond. Blue Christmas offers a space, a ritual, where we may light a candle, send a positive thought out, offer up a prayer, or call upon the Angels from the realms of glory to come and bring comfort, succour and nurturance to those who are not having a happy Christmas.
Event Details
Program: Blue Christmas
Location: Senior Citizens Centre, Welsford St, Shepparton
Date: Friday, 22 December 2017
Time: 7pm
More information: Rev. Chris Parnell, 5821 3483
